Max the mastodon being digitized into 3-D at Western Science Center

Max the mastodon being digitized into 3-D at Western Science Center

Dr. Bernard K. Means, Director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory of Anthropology at Virginia Commonwealth University, uses a 3D scanner to digitize Max the mastodon at the Western Science Center in Hemet, CA. Thursday, August 4, 2016.

Prehistoric times met new technology at the Western Science Center as laser beams were used to scan parts of Max the mastodon, the museum’s prize specimen.

Anthropologist Bernard Means used 3D imagery to digitize portions of Max, who dates back 50,000 years, and other artifacts in the Hemet museum’s collection.

On Thursday morning, Max’s femur was placed on a plate and red laser beams shot from a computer. The plate rotated eight times to scan different portions of the bone. The process took about 30 minutes.

“It will give us a really good model of the femur,” Means said.

Means, director of the Virtual Curation Laboratory and an instructor of anthropology at Virginia Commonwealth University, then grabbed a tablet and walked around Max’s huge skull for images.

When printed, the 3D image will look and feel something like the papier-mâché projects children make. Though resin castings of artifacts have some weight to them, the 3D images are surprisingly light.

Alton Dooley, Western Science Center’s executive director, said the scans will allow researchers to learn more about Max on top of information gleaned when his jaw was X-rayed last year through a CT scan.

“It’s not just what he’s doing but what he’s showing us,” Dooley said. “It shows us what direction we can go.”

The 3D scanning allows for realistic copies to be made of fossils too fragile to mold or be shipped to museums.

“One of the goals of 3D scanning is to make objects available all over the world,” Means said. “You can go into schools and do public outreach. You can also teach with them.”

The lasers do not damage the artifacts, Means said.

“One of the differences between molding and 3D scanning is the more you use the mold, it will wear out,” he said.

Means was at the Western Science Center through a grant from Smithsonian Affiliations.

“I work a lot with museums that usually don’t have the money for these kinds of things,” Means said.

Max, the largest mastodon ever found in California, was discovered during construction and excavation of what is now Diamond Valley Lake.

He got quite the going-over the past week. Besides Means and his work, paleontologist Katie Smith, associate professor of geology at Georgia Southern University, was studying his tusks.

“This is only the second time in 10 years Max’s case is open, so we try to get as much data as possible,” Dooley said.

Smith’s studies will compare the tusks of Max and others in the collection to tusks she has studied in other parts of the country.

“I’m curious to see how different they are, or if they are different,” she said.

In October, Western Science Center, which is approaching its 10th anniversary, will celebrate 21 years since Max was discovered.

Join the conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful
conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments,
we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful,
threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent
or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law,
regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.